Guidestone to Celebrate National Food Day Oct. 24th

Longfellow Elementary 3rd Graders harvesting carrots for the Healthy Foods Party on Food Day Oct. 24th.

October is National Farm to school month, with October 24, 2013 being the official National Food Day.   Food Day is a nationwide celebration of healthy, affordable, and sustainably produced food and a grassroots campaign for better food policies. 

In honor of Food Day, Guidestone is celebrating with some special events for students in the Salida School District, by offering healthy food parties for classrooms, which will include information about local produce grown in the Salida School Gardens and being incorporated into the District School Lunch program, a “How Much Sugar’s In Your Snack” demo, and healthy treats to share.  In addition to a fun, engaging and delicious opportunity for students, a goal of these parties will be to develop a template for the District Wellness Policy on hosting healthy food parties in the classroom.  

In regards to healthy, locally produced foods in the schools, our community has a lot to celebrate.  Already this Fall, the Salida School Gardens has produced 1111lbs of fresh produce, 879lbs of which have gone to the school, 122lbs has been sold to the Hospital and 78lbs to other venues. Danny Quinto, and the entire cafeteria staff, has transformed this fresh food into healthy and delicious meals served daily for our children.  Food Day is a chance to celebrate this accomplishment with students and teachers in their classrooms.

To learn more about the national organization, Foodday.org has developed an extensive list of resources including a curriculum guide focused on teaching children the importance of eating real, fresh food, cutting back on processed foods, and advocating for a healthier community. You will also find reading lists for a wide variety of Farm to Table appropriate topics. 

Another exciting opportunity to bring healthy food to kids in our community is the Healthy Meals for Kids (HM4K) Chaffee County Program, which is helping ensure that all children in Chaffee County have access to healthy meals when school is not in session.  Amica’s, the Salida Boys & Girls Club and LiveWell Chaffee County have partnered over the past two years to provide healthy meals to Chaffee County children over the summer, and they anticipate reaching over 10,000 meals served by the end of next summer.  

Local Salida restaurants are donating a portion of their sales to the Healthy Meals 4 Kids Program during a “dine out” event October 24-27th, including Amica’s, The Fritz, Benson’s and Rivers Edge. In addition, Moonlight Pizza’s Moonlight Monday on Monday, October 28th will benefit HM4K.  Salida area coffee shops and bakeries are also showing their support by having donation jars where you can donate your change to a worthy cause. You can donate at Sacred Ground Coffee, Rise and Shine Bakery and Café Dawn during the same dates. Café Dawn will also donate a portion of their sales on Thursday, October 24th.

For more information about the Healthy Meals 4 Kids program or LiveWell Chaffee County, please contact Lisa Malde, Director of LiveWell Chaffee County, at lmalde@chaffeecounty.org or 530-2569.

Pumpkin Patch Thank You

On behalf of Guidestone’s Staff and Board of Directors, we would like to extend a resounding thank you to everyone in the community who participated in our 7th Annual Pumpkin Patch & Harvest Festival, held again this year at the Hutchinson Ranch. It was a wonderful weekend of festivities and we are grateful to all the attendees, volunteers, sponsors and partners that helped make the weekend a success!

We would like to specifically thank the following individuals and organizations for helping make the Pumpkin Patch such a great event: Art & Abby Hutchinson and the staff and animals of the Hutchinson Ranch, Ralph Ogden of Mt. Princeton Riding Stables and his team of wranglers, draft horses and ponies, Dennis Fischer and his ’44 John Deere tractor, Ryan O’Brien for this year’s festive poster, Michelle Gap and Jeff Yoder of the Hey Bird Food Truck by Kalamatapit Catering, members of 4-H for pony rides, Dave Ward & CCFA for their cider press, Seth Roberts of Weathervane Farm, Mark Rittman from The Maverick Potter, Steph Perko & Terrie Brewer from Kaleidoscope Toys, Tami Deal and her African pygmy goats, and all of our hard-working and positive volunteers: Tom LeBaron, Carol McIlvaine, Samantha Lane, Katy Grether, Kathi Wardlow, Leisa Glass, Charis Cheeseman, Ann Colbert, Karen Lacy, Karen Fortier, Mark Zander,  Becky Nelson, Angie Jensen, Josh Visitacion, Anne Oliver, Jennifer Veazey, Dennis Gage, Danielle Riggio, Andrea Carlstrom, Reece, Ison, Monica and Andy White, Hazel Rittman, Leslie Champ, Kristine Smock, Sheli James, Ross Kontz, the Vineyards Youth Group, members of the SHS cross-country team, Deb Bass & her SHS students, George Mossman’s SMS 6th grade class, Christi Delaney & members of the SHS Key Club, Robin Lewis & the SCC AgriCorps crew, Talmadge Trujillo and students from Horizons Exploratory Academy.

Thanks as well to the following musicians for sharing their talent and creating such a festive atmosphere! Simpler Times Bluegrass, Scott Adams, Dave Tipton, Dan Woodbird, Stephen Smalzel, Salida Brass and Chris Nasca.

We also would like to thank the following businesses for their generous sponsorships: LiveWell Chaffee County, Natural Habitats Design/Build, Boathouse Cantina, Landmark Survey & Mapping, Rebound Physical Therapy, Brady’s West, Moonstone Farm, Nordstrom Design LLC, Flynn, Wright & Fredman LLC, Pinto Barn, Assurance Partners, and to the following businesses for their donations and contributions: Amicas, Chip Peddler, City on a Hill Coffee & Espresso, Fringe, Izze, Kaleidoscope Toys, Moonlight Pizza, Mountain Phoenix Coffee Roasters, Murdoch’s, Ploughboy, Salida Bread Co., The Salty Wench, Simple Foods, Sunshine Market, Sweeties and Vino Salida.

All of the proceeds from the Pumpkin Patch go to support Guidestone’s Farmhands Education Program, which provides hands-on, experiential farm & ranch education programs to school groups, children and families. Guidestone is a Chaffee County-based non-profit dedicated to strengthening the local food economy through the preservation of agricultural resources and education.

Community support is invaluable to the success of these programs, and we are grateful to be part of such an enthusiastic community that supports local food and local agriculture. Thanks again, and best wishes for a cozy winter.  

Warm regards,

Guidestone Staff: Jennifer Tucker Visitacion, Andrea Earley Coen, David Lynch, Margaret Fitch, & OSM/VISTA Gunnar Paulsen

Guidestone Board: Tom Pokorny, Jane Fredman, Benjamin Kahn, Brian England, Natalie Amaroso, Erin Oliver, and Derald Brady.

For more information about Guidestone, visit www.guidestonecolorado.org

ps. to see more photos from the 7th Annual Pumpkin Patch & Harvest Festival, visit Guidestone's Facebook page!

Pumpkin Patch 2013!

What is that I sense on the horizon... starlit horse-drawn wagon rides, straw-bale mazes, fresh-pressed apple cider?... it can only mean one thing...

Guidestone’s 7th Annual Pumpkin Patch and Harvest Festival 

October 11-13, 2013

It is fast approaching and there are plenty of reasons to be excited for this year’s Pumpkin Patch! Kicking off the weekend on Friday will be our programs for school and youth groups, allowing them to experience all the excitement of the Pumpkin Patch before the gates open to the public. To learn more about this opportunity, click here.

Friday evening will be a first for the Pumpkin Patch, featuring a Gala Dinner. Local foods will be a highlight with dinner provided by Salida’s own Kalamatapit Catering. The night will also feature live music by Simpler Times Bluegrass, moonlit rides on a horse-drawn wagon to the twinkle-lit pumpkin patch, and a nice warm bonfire to round out the evening. Tickets for Friday night are $35 and sure to sell out, so get yours here!

On Saturday and Sunday we’ll have all the staples you’ve come to expect - horse-drawn wagon rides to the pumpkin patch, tractor rides, crafts and children’s activities, face painting, pony rides, chicken bingo, great food and live music - and some new activities to keep the harvest fresh - a storytelling station for younguns, field games for the older kids, a family photo booth on Saturday to capture the moment (proceeds to support the Two’s Program) - all culminating in a one-of-a-kind family festival on the historic Hutchinson Ranch. Get your tickets here: $5/day in advance, or $7 at the door. 

All entrance fees and bake sale proceeds go towards supporting Guidestone's Farmhands Youth Education Programs. And it really does take a village to make it all come together, so if you want to have a great time and support a good cause, please volunteer! You can find a detailed list of volunteer shifts here, indicate your preference and we’ll get right back to you. 

The Pumpkin Patch also welcomes sponsorships, of which there are various levels suitable for any business looking to support wellness, local agriculture, or place-based education for youth. If you are interested in being a sponsor for the event, please click here for more information. Thanks!

Special thanks to our sponsors Mt. Princeton Riding Stables, LiveWell Chaffee County, Boathouse Cantina, & Landmark Surveying and Mapping.

For more information go to www.guidestonecolorado.org or contact gunnar@guidestonecolorado.org

We hope to see you there!

Back to School

As the school year starts, Guidestone’s education programs expand to include both field experiences and classroom-based work, partnering with teachers in the Salida School District, and this year we’ll be building on some of the exciting work we began last year.

Guidestone had the privilege to partner with with an amazing team during the second semester of last school year to bring the “Food for Thought” curriculum, developed by Cathy Schmelter of An Ounce of Nutrition, to Salida High School. “Food for Thought” highlights the value of eating healthy in all aspects from personal health to the economic and environmental benefits of local foods. The idea for the curriculum emerged when Schmelter realized the dearth of nutrition education materials for youth, and that some real physical consequences of this were manifesting as diseases, like diabetes, in children that had previously only been seen in adults.

After a successful pilot year in Denver schools in 2012, LiveWell Colorado recognized the need for nutrition education in rural parts of the state, such as Chaffee County where childhood obesity rates are 6% above state average, and funded the pilot of “Food for Thought” in 5 high schools across Colorado, which included Salida High School. Education Director Andrea Earley Coen and Farm to School Program Manager Margaret Fitch worked every week with Deb Bass’ senior English course English through Sustainability both in the classroom and the Salida School Garden on Holman Ave. Guidestone is thrilled to have been a part of this opportunity to work with Cathy, Deb and her students, and to have this unique, comprehensive curriculum for  use in future youth education programs. 

While “Food for Thought” won’t be taught this semester in English through Sustainability our partnership with Bass’ class will continue. Gunnar Paulsen, Guidestone’s AmeriCorps VISTA, will work with students to market the Garden to Cafeteria Project through news pieces, radio stories, video blogs, and social media. So keep your eyes and ears peeled! The purpose of that work will be to help high school students learn about sustainability and environmental stewardship while honing communication skills that will serve them well throughout their professional lives. 

What is a "VISTA"? Let me explain!

Poverty. That’s what I’m here to address. Ridiculous, right?

My name is Gunnar Paulsen and I am Guidestone’s AmeriCorps OSM/VISTA member from July ’13 to ’14. AmeriCorps VISTA. What is a “VISTA” you ask? Well, it stands for Volunteers in Service to America and is a national program that places individuals in year-long, full-time volunteer positions with non-profits and government organizations across the country. The mission of a VISTA member is to build the capacity of his or her host site - to increase what that particular organization can do, whether it is through community outreach and volunteer coordination, fundraising, or improving organizational operations. To be awarded a VISTA from the National Corporation for Community Service, which lasts for three years, a host site must address some aspect of poverty in its mission. 

Poverty is obviously a large and daunting problem, and rather than existing as a single “problem,” it might more accurately be described as a complicated matrix of social, economic, racial and geographic factors. See, even defining it is hard. To learn about its multifaceted causes and cycles, VISTA sends each incoming member to a Pre-Service Orientation. Last month I attended mine. It was held at a hotel on the outskirts of Denver, and was comprised of over 200 other new VISTAs who were also starting service terms all across the country. I met folks who would be serving in Washington D.C.; Austin, TX; New Orleans; the Navajo Nation; Baltimore, MD; and even a few others serving in rural Colorado. 

When I first heard what many of these folks would be doing with their service term - working with organizations that mentor the children of incarcerated parents, teaching financial literacy to new immigrants, and providing free legal advice to disadvantaged persons, and all mostly in urban centers - I was intimidated and felt pretty out of place. It seemed like they would be combating poverty in a very direct way, and it was hard to see how Guidestone fit into the particular VISTA paradigm. Then I got to thinking.

Guidestone’s mission is “dedicated to strengthening the local food economy through preserving agricultural resources and educating for ecological literacy,” and while at first glance that doesn’t seem to directly address poverty - the connections certainly aren’t as apparent as my fellow VISTAs’ missions, right? - Guidestone’s mission does address poverty at a root level. 

Guidestone works towards its mission through three main programs. Through the Garden to Cafeteria program - which delivers fresh produce from the Salida School Gardens on Holman Ave. to all three Salida School District cafeterias for incorporation into meals - we vigorously combating Chaffee County’s above average obesity rates (26% of residents are obese, thats 6% above state average) by working with the most vulnerable among us, children. A result of food insecurity and lack of proper nutrition, obesity has been declared a national epidemic by health-care professionals nationwide, and childhood obesity - which has increased three-fold in the last three decades - is even more damaging because it is often a lifelong sentence to ill health and socioeconomic disadvantage. Directly, produce from the garden reaches 1,085 students, 180 staff, and hundreds of families. As the garden expands to reach its 4 acre capacity, it will supply 99.9% of the School District’s vegetables and 10% of its fruit, totaling 5,190lbs. By working with key community partners to incorporate the garden and nutritional education into school curriculum we believe that we can have a strong impact on obesity rates long term in Salida. 

The next facet of Guidestone, our Farmhands Youth Education Program, while it doesn’t explicitly frame its mission as such, also takes a long view towards combating poverty. Farmhands seek to re-connect children with their natural environment, to show them where healthy food comes from and how it is grown or raised. In addition to combating the spiritual poverty that is rife within contemporary mainstream culture - which has little to no value for nature, reflection, history, or community - these programs increase regional access to quality educational programming. We hope these programs foster a lifelong curiosity and facilitate positive connections to the natural world for each child that experiences them. Such a goal is hard to measure quantitatively, but after spending a summer co-teaching the kids at Guidestone’s immersive 4-day camps I truly believe that they will hold onto the creativity and wonder of childhood throughout their lives, and that that positive energy will guide them through meaningful, successful lives.

The Farmhands in action.

Lastly, Guidestone’s Colorado Land Link program, which is designed to make connections between retiring farmers, ranchers, and landowners and connect them with aspiring agricultural producers, guiding both parties through this delicate process. This service is greatly needed in a time when the financial viability of ranching and farming is diminishing, rendering offers of cash buyouts from developers seeking land and water all too tempting. By having strong agricultural producers in the region, the local economy is strengthened, community access to high-quality foods increases, alternative and entrepreneurial business models thrive, and the unique character and history of the state and region are preserved. If we fail to preserve our agricultural lands for agricultural purposes, we will continue to depend on a fossil fuel based food economy, which is unhealthy for our planet and our bodies.

And that is how I’ve come to see Guidestone’s mission and how it relates to VISTA’s. During my time here, I’ll work for Guidestone to develop a master operations calendar, write grants for funds and services, write case-studies of successes in our Land Link program, handle most communications and social media, and recruit and manage volunteers.

While my time here won’t immediately raise anyone above the federal poverty line, which at $11,490 for an individual or $23,550 for a family of four annually is hardly a bar worth shooting for, I do hope that I can help Guidestone serve its mission and continue to expand the reach of its programs. In turn I hope that leads to more self-reliant, food-rich, and inter-connected communities across the Upper Arkansas River Valley and Colorado. At the end of my term, I will be just one small part of VISTA’s 48 year, 180,000 member legacy of serving throughout America to expand the capacity of homegrown efforts to address poverty in communities. And thats a legacy of which I’ll be proud to be a part. 

Gunnar Paulsen, Guidestone's first OSM/VISTA, looking fondly over his new home.

Wrap up for Farmhands summer programs

Sunflowers are in the last stage of their bloom, hay is being cut and bailed, and school is already back in session. These are all indicators that Fall is approaching all too quickly in the Upper Arkansas Valley, but here at Guidestone the most surefire indicator that the seasons are changing is that we’ve wrapped up the last of our 2013 Summer Farmhands programming. Our office at the Hutchinson Homestead Ranch & Learning Center is quiet - the constant cries of elation have moved on to other pastures.

With the change of seasons comes a time for reflection, and this Farmhands season provides

Spending time with favorite chicks in the coop at Farm Camp

Guidestone ample material for that. By all measures it has been our most successful season yet! We debuted our new 4-day camp model, hosting 10 differently themed camps throughout the summer at three sites: Moonstone Farm, the Hutchinson Homestead, and Salida School Gardens - Holman Ave. site. These camps attracted over 90 students throughout the summer, many of whom were committed repeat campers. The diversity of sites where we held programs also contributed to the breadth of our summer programs. We partnered with the Morgan Center for Earth Literacy in Poncha Springs for the first time this season, which hosted our Little Sprouts, Garden Explorers, and Junior Farmers programs, which afforded the Farmhands kids the opportunity to get good and garden dirty while participating in food production firsthand.

As we reflect on what went well this summer, we will also be thinking hard on how to make our programs even better for next season. An essential part of that is the feedback we get from the Farmhands’ parents, our instructors, and the kids themselves. 

That said, we’re ready to let summer go here at Guidestone and welcome the crisp mornings and warm colors that fall will bring, because with them comes our annual Pumpkin Patch Event! Save the date for the fun filled weekend of October 11-13 when there will be horse-drawn carriage rides with the wranglers from Arkansas Valley Trail Rides, a steak dinner and live-auction, music, children’s activities, pony rides, food, and of course... pumpkins! All at the Hutchinson Ranch.

Ranch Camp & The Return of Sneaky Coyote

Ranch Campers sporting their well deserved gift from Coyote.

Ranch Camp, one of our favorites here at Guidestone, started with a bang as Sneaky Coyote “stole” all the campers backpacks! Luckily, he’s not a pernicious coyote, only a sneaky one, which means that he left a riddle to lead the campers back to their packs, imploring them to “Learn from the land, hear the stories it tells - In forest or pasture, or down in a well - In trees, hay yards, ditches or crates - All of these places... Magic awaits! In 3 days time I will give you a test - So practice up now and pleez do your best.” And sure enough, Sneaky Coyote visited camp each day unseen by anyone - instructors included! - playing pranks on the campers and leading them on a scavenger hunt that employed their knowledge of everything they’d learned about ranching on the last day. Coyote tested their knowledge of milking, branding, horse breeds, irrigation, and daily life from historic homesteading days, rewarding the hardworking campers with their very own bandana.

Belle and Leonard Verhoeff sharing stories.

A lesson in saddle crafting.

Tooling leather.

Most fascinating about coyote’s antics on the ranch, which is what every camper remembers throughout the year and comes back to camp asking about, is the sheer sense of wonder that he evokes in the kids; wonder in the natural world, the sense that around every bend in the river an adventure awaits, or that even in a blade of grass or a ditch there is mystery and fun to be found. It was truly a thrill to see 15 eager faces light up when they realized that coyote had made off with the lassoes with which we were about to practice roping an cow skull and see every one of those faces race with all haste to find the lassoes in the pig shed.

They call him Slim

A Cowgirl in uniform.

There was also plenty of fun and wonder to be had between Sneaky Coyote notes, especially with our visitors to camp. On Tuesday Belle and Leonard Verhoeff came to camp, and in the historic Hutchinson Homestead house gathered the campers in the parlor to share stories from their life of ranching in Park County. The kids were rapt, every one of them, with the stories of misadventure from a different time. However, they were even more interested in the wild buffalo skull and horns that Belle and Leonard brought to show them, dug from beneath layers of river silt and potentially filled with petrified buffalo brain...

Wednesday, Dennis Fisher, came to share some of his Cowboy Poetry, songs, and stories with the group to much critical acclaim. Some highlights included how he acquired the name ‘Slim’ and why you never want to make the camp cook on a cattle drive angry.

We closed out Ranch Camp with a genuine hoedown. The kids sang a song crafted at camp to their parents before leading them outside to square dance as Guidestone’s own Andrea Coen fiddled and called the dance. What a sight! The festivities were capped with ice cream made that day at camp with everyone taking a turn to churn. It was a great week of learning about the history of ranching in Colorado and the operations of a modern day ranch, all filled with fun. As Sneaky Coyote would say, “HA HA! HOO WHEE!” what a week!

Square Dancing at the Hoedown

June Farmhands Programs at the Hutchinson Homestead

The last few weeks here at Guidestone’s headquarters have been packed! Beginning June 17-20 there was a true farmyard scene at the Hutchinson Homestead for Farmhands’ Animals on the Ranch Camp.

Delbert the donkey! 

Jasper leads the llamas through the pasture.

First off, our 22 (!) campers got to meet a few residents already on the ranch, including Smoky and Bucky the horses, Delbert the ever-sociable donkey, and Stella the milk cow. Everybody had a chance to see these animals in action, whether by milking Stella or watching as Smoky got shod (thanks to local farrier Harry Hansen for that great show!). In addition to the ranch locals, we also had some visitors: Little Red and Bunny the pack llamas from Bill Gardiner at Antero Llamas, a duo of Boer meat goats from Ellen Kelly at El Regalo Ranch, a flock of young laying hens from Guidestone’s own Andrea Coen, and a pair of turkeys from the homestead of Leisa Glass. Whew! At the end of the week the kids had a solid sense of all the different animals on the ranch and their product - whether it be fiber, meat or dairy. 

Campers meet the El Regalo's boer kids.

Perhaps the more important synthesis of the week’s activities was the kid’s gradual discovery that ranches provide a home not just for domestic animals, but also for a wide variety of wild critters that might not have a home if not for the landscape of the ranch. While out in the field we tuned our senses in to look for signs of wildlife, and boy did we find plenty! From the carcass of a red-tailed hawk, red-winged blackbird nests in the pasture, deer tracks, and beaver dams it seemed like everywhere we looked we saw evidence of a healthy ecosystem. 

Laundry! Everybody's favorite pastime.

The good turnout continued the following week with 20 eager kids coming to the ranch to learn traditional homesteading skills during People on the Land. Over the course of the week camp participants got to try their hands at making butter, soap, and candles, spinning wool into bracelets, hand-washing laundry (who would’ve thought that’d be such a hit?), and even take a few swings at the blacksmith’s anvil when Jamie Monroe and his assistant Matt came to demonstrate how Annabel Hutchinson and company would’ve made their own tools in the late 1800s. 

At week’s end, the general consensus among the group was that the hard work that would’ve been demanded of them as homesteader children would have been... hard! Perhaps the chores are fun in short doses, with all your buddies doing them with you, but in the end the vote was overwhelmingly in favor of modern conveniences. 

Eager blacksmith apprentices. 

In addition to an appreciation for the austere elements of life in the homesteading era, the kids started to grasp the connection between every material aspect of their lives and the land they live on - from the butter that comes straight from a cow’s udder, the warm  clothes spun from fiber-bearing animals, or the objects that populate their lives' origins as materials mined from the earth. By seeing the whole cycle on a few of these simple products, the kids were able to, after some pronunciation lessons, identify their role in the cycle of producer-consumer-decomposer. 

Farm-fresh soap!

Reflection in the homestead.

AgriCorps at Salida School Gardens - Holman Site

At the Salida School Gardens - Holman Site, AgriCorps is in their fourth week of hard work at the garden, and oh what they’ve accomplished! A program of SCC, Agricorps brings groups of three youth ages 14-18 together to gain practical and experiential knowledge of local agriculture, as well as learning about the business side of such operations. So far the crew has certainly done that. Each Friday for the past three weeks they have been busy transplanting broccoli, lettuce, kale, chard, squash, herbs and other starts to their permanent home. Not only that, they have prepped the garden for that planting by weeding new beds and wheeling barrow after barrow of topsoil to the new row beds in the southeast section of the garden. I think most people would agree that sounds like a pretty good summer job! Learn more here.

Soon the garden will be ready for a first summer harvest, primarily leafy greens. Look for those at Ploughboy in Salida, and also directly from the farm at the first Farmstand on July 26 from 10am-3pm, which will be at the Holman site!

Guidestone is thrilled to have the AgriCorps members, and their fearless leader Sheena, working at the Salida School Garden this summer. Their hard work will ensure a plentiful harvest this fall, which in turn means local school cafeterias will be flush with delicious, beautiful bounty come the return of school. 

If anyone wants to know more about this program, drop-in volunteer hours on Fridays, or any other way to get involved at the Salida School Garden, contact Margaret Fitch, our triumphant Garden Manager at 802.274.2870 or margaret@guidestonecolorado.org.

Farmhands - Water & Landscape on the Ranch

July is already upon us here at Guidestone and Farmhands programs have been in full swing. June 10th  - just as Guidestone tried to contain its glee over moving into our new headquarters at Hutchinson Homestead Visitors Center - we kicked off summer programming just outside our office doors by welcoming an enthusiastic group of kids to Water and Landscape of the Ranch.

Abby Hutchinson leads the fearless irrigators!

We began the week with a quick game to orient us to the geography of water that provides the foundation of ranching in the Upper Arkansas Valley: from the South Arkansas’ origins to the west along the snow-capped Continental Divide to the headwaters of the Arkansas north in Leadville and those rivers confluence and eventual passage into the Gulf of Mexico.

Nothing better than walking through a ditch.

And with a sense of the land and water beneath our feet, we were off! Into the culvert wide enough to drive cattle through and beneath Hwy. 50 (a perennial kids’ favorite) over to the verdant pastures where the Hutchinson Ranch keeps its herd. While there we met Abby, the sixth-generation of the Hutchinson family to ranch this land. Abby was quick to put eight eager kids to work with shovels, having them do what she only wished beavers would do in  opportune places: build dams. Over the course of the week, the kids, with remarkable enthusiasm and drive, focused on doing the hard work of flood irrigating by building channels for water to escape the ditch, strategically placing tarps to collect water, and removing impediments in the Briscoe Ditch.

Future engineers shaping the river.

Culvert to the south pastures.

Perhaps most impressive about all this, from one humble educator’s perspective, was the sheer joy the kids found in their engagement with water.  I watched as the reality of their own power to shape the landscape dawned on them and how they thought about the effects of their actions both down and upstream. By the end of the week, each camp participant could articulate how their efforts assisted the ranch’s hay crop, and how what happened on one part of the river affects  manmade and natural communities  below them; in this case, millions of people and hundreds of river miles from the South Arkansas River to the Gulf of Mexico. We can look forward to the day that they’re in charge.

Intstructors Ann Stevenson & Andrea Coen send 'em home good and dirty!

Summary of the 2013 Farm Bill

by David Lynch
Colorado Land Link Director

Having failed to pass a Farm Bill as scheduled last year, Congress is trying again. Like the last several Farm Bills, the proposed Farm Bill will generally support the large consolidated corporate agriculture system.  There are no proposals on the table for systemic changes, but there have been several potentially significant amendments on specific topics that affect sustainable farmers and local food consumers. Unfortunately the Senate passed the Farm Bill without having reached agreement on any of the following amendments. Watch to see what amendments will be brought up before the House of Representatives with their version of the Farm Bill.

1.  Amendment #1042 sponsored by Senator King seeks to support small, direct-marketing farmers by clarifying the exemption for small farmers under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

When the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) passed Congress two years ago, it included a very important provision that exempted small-scale, direct-marketing farmers from some of the burdensome new regulations.  The Tester-Hagan provision of FSMA was a vital protection for local food producers.

When FDA proposed regulations this year under FSMA, however, its interpretation of the Tester-Hagan provision undercut much of the intent.  Among other problems, FDA’s proposed regulations measure who is a small farmer based on all the food they sell, instead of based on the food they sell that is subject to FSMA.  The real intention of the Tester-Hagan provision was to judge size under FSMA based on the foods subject to FSMA, and Senator King’s Amendment clarifies that intention.  This will bring more farmers within the protections of the Tester-Hagan provision, preventing them from being driven out of business by new federal regulations.

 2.  Senator Tester has an amendment entitled “Classical Breeding Amendment #972”. The goal of this amendment is to support non-GMO seeds. More and more, corporations are control agriculture research and are focused on expanding their genetically engineered crops; every year farmers are left with fewer choices of seeds that are not genetically engineered. Farmers who want to avoid growing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) simply don’t have good alternatives.  And when farmers have no options, consumers have no options.
 
In the 2008 Farm Bill, Congress directed the USDA to make classical plant and animal breeding a priority for funding, but the agency imposed hurdles in the grant-making process that have undermined this Congressional mandate. Senator Tester’s amendment will prioritize the USDA’s breeding grants for classical breeding of public cultivars and non-GMO seeds.

3. There are several amendments that are dedicated to support farmer and consumer choice. Amendment #978 would require judicial review of non-GMO crops, amendment #934 would ban GMO salmon, and both amendments #965 and #1025 would support labeling requirements at both the federal and state levels.

4.  Senator Wyden’s Industrial Hemp Amendment would support American farmer’s freedom to once again grow hemp to the extent that it is allowed under state laws. Hemp is planted in many countries, and is legal to use in the U.S. – but it is not legal to plant it in the U.S. 

The seed is known for its healthy protein and rich oil. The outer fiber from the stalk can be used for clothing, canvas and rope; the inner core fiber can be used for construction and paper production.   This crop provides excellent opportunities for farmers for a sustainable, profitable crop.

5.  The 2008 farm bill included a provision for “Country of Origin Labeling (COOL)”. Senator Johanns amendment would eliminate it.

For years, American farmers and consumers have fought to get mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) for food products, so that consumers could know what country their food came from.  The large meatpackers, however, don’t like this and are trying to get COOL eliminated in the Farm Bill. COOL is already the law of the land – it should not be reversed in this Farm Bill. Consumers deserve the right to know the source of their food and U.S. farmers and ranchers should be allowed to promote their products with pride.

Upcoming Events in the Garden to Cafeteria Garden!

Community Work Day

Date: Friday, May 24th
Time: 9am-12pm
Location: Garden to Cafeteria garden, Holman Ave. (by the soccer fields)

The growing season is upon us, and the garden to cafeteria garden on Holman could use some helping hands to get it ready for spring planting!  We are hoping for about 10 adults and teens to help with some heavy lifting projects to haul soil and construct raised beds. 
 
If you're interested in joining us, please RSVP to Margaret Fitch: margaret@guidestonecolorado.org, or (802)274-2870

Salida School Gardens Open House

Date: Friday, May 31st
Time: 1-4pm

Come celebrate the beginning of summer with us at the Salida School Gardens Open house at the school garden on Holman Ave. the afternoon of May 31st!  E-mail Margaret Fitch for more details:
margaret@guidestonecolorado.org

Registration is OPEN for Farmhands Summer Education Programs!

Register NOW to receive the Spring Chicken early-bird Rate for all of our Farmhands programs for Summer 2013!!

June 3 - August 15

 
Farmhands Youth Education Programs provide hands-on, experiential farm & ranch education opportunities for children of all ages, families and youth organizations!  

Farmhands programs have expanded this year both in numbers of programs and teaching locations!  We have offerings for the following age distinctions: 4 and Under, 5 and Under, 5-7 Years, 7-10 Years, 10 and Up.  Teaching locations include the historic Hutchinson Homestead, The Morgan Center, Moonstone Farm and The Salida School Gardens.

There are numerous summer programming opportunities to choose from, including:

• Little Sprouts programs for the youngest members of the family and their parents/grandparents

• Weekly garden programs

• 4-day camps at the historic Hutchinson Homestead

• 4-day garden, farm and ranch camps

• Saturday Drop-in programs at the Hutchinson Homestead

• Special Contract Group opportunities available

Advance Registration Required for all programs.  To see a complete list of program descriptions, dates, ages, cost, locations and additional registration information, click HERE.

For more information, contact andrea@guidestonecolorado.org or call (719)445-9855

 

Land Link Forum

Colorado Land Link Initiative  

Strategic Planning Forum

March 8th and 9th, 2013

 Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Resort 

Nathrop, CO

About the Forum

Guidestone is organizing this forum on Land Link to explore the initiative as an important tool to preserve Colorado’s vital agricultural resources by linking next generation producers with retiring farmers, ranchers and landowners and providing educational resources and training opportunities.

This event is designed to: 

• Provide informative speakers and workshops regarding various aspects of Land Link
• Introduce Guidestone’s Land Link program, database and developing resources
• Discuss potential partners and collaboration possibilities
• Strategize for a statewide Land Link program
• Access expertise and experience of other farm and land link programs nation-wide
• Explore training and educational opportunities

Highlights of the event include:

• The Friday evening Keynote Address by John Salazar, Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture.
• Saturday morning, Guest Speaker, John Baker, Farm Transition Specialist of the National Farming Transition Network will share his experience and expertise in assisting with the development of other landlink programs in the U.S.

Who should attend?

• Agriculture service providers
• Conservation Specialists
• Educators in farm transition
• Government officials
• Nonprofit leaders
• Local food organizers

Schedule of Events

Friday, March 8th

1:00-5:00pm:  Registration and Exhibit Hall Opens- 
Join us to network with other statewide agricultural service providers and learn about local food initiatives and producers in our region.

1:00-4:00pm: Conservation Easement Workshop-
Hosted by Land Trust of the Upper Arkansas (LTUA) and presented by Andrew Mackie, Executive Director and invited guest speakers. In this workshop we will discuss how conservation easements work and the legal requirements for entering into such an agreement. We will also discuss the benefits available to landowners from the Colorado State Tax Credit to the Federal Deduction. In addition, we will go over the steps of setting up a conservation easement and the required due diligence procedures. The workshop is recommended for any landowner that is interested in learning more about protecting their land and any other individual that wants to know more about this major conservation tool. For additional information call the Land Trust of the Upper Arkansas at 719-539-7700.

6:00-9:00pm: A Celebration of Colorado Agriculture- 
Join us for a Colorado local foods dinner with a Keynote Address by John Salazar, Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture.  A Sixth-generation farmer and rancher, Salazar served three terms represnting Colorado's 3rd Congressional District and was a member of the House Agriculture Committee.  Before his time in Congress, Salazar served in the Colorado General Assembly for two years.  The evening will also include local entertainment and a silent auction to benefit Guidestone.

 

Saturday, March 9th

8:00-9:00am:  Breakfast, Registration, Exhibit Hall

9:00-10:00am:  A National Perspective on Land Link Programs 
Guest Speaker, John Baker of the National Farming Transition Network will share his experience and expertise in assisting with the development of other landlink programs in the U.S. He will address strategies for a successful Colorado initiative and the lessons learned through other landlink efforts.

10:00-11:00am:  Colorado Land Link- A Pathway for Farm Transition
Representatives from Guidestone, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, and Colorado State University Extension will discuss current efforts in their partnership to develop a statewide Land Link initiative and provide a framework for the afternoon strategic planning sessions.

11:00am-12:00pm: Community Land Trust -Panel Discussion
 Hosted by the Land Trust of the Upper Arkansas (LTUA), this panel will include representatives from community-based Land Trust organizations from throughout the state to discuss the vital role that these organizations can play in preserving agricultural resources and promoting land link efforts.

12:00pm-1:30pm: Lunch, Exhibit Hall and Break

1:30-4:00pm: Colorado Land Link Strategic Planning- Interactive Summit 
Participants will engage in a facilitated discussion that will examine the goals and desired outcomes of a statewide land link intiative, take inventory of current programs, initiatives, and resources, and identify the resources needed  and collaboration opportunities for an effective statewide or regional program.

4:00-5:00pm: Outcomes of Strategic Planning Sessions and Closing Remarks

Lodging and Meals

Meals: Forum Registration includes dinner on Friday night, breakfast on Saturday, and lunch on Saturday.  If you have dietary restrictions, please make note in your registration form.

Lodging: Participants are encouraged to stay on site at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Resort.  Guidestone has a number of rooms being held with a group rate ($99 for hotel room, $50 pp for shared cabin) for forum attendees.  Please contact Mt. Princeton Resort directly to book your room and let them know this is for the Guidestone event.

To Register, click HERE !

Guidestone is pleased to be hosting this forum with the following Sponsors and Partners: